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inging in the new millennium seems to have had an effect on “new industry” growth. Site Selection‘s annual tally of top industries shows a new entry in the line-up for 2000. Though pharmaceuticals came in at No. 5 in terms of new and expanded facilities, it represents the explosive growth in recent months in the biotech/pharmaceutical field.
Pharmaceuticals, in fact, knocked the more traditional chemical industry out of the top five in 2000 with some 366 new plants and expansions. Another shake-up took place with the machinery industry, which dropped from 1999’s No. 3 spot to No. 4 in 2000, and fabricated metals climbed two rungs from the No. 5 spot in 1999 to 2000’s No. 3.
Some things do remain the same, however. Transportation equipment held onto the No. 1 spot for another year, and plastics and rubber maintained its No. 2 ranking for the second year in a row.
Signs of a Slowing Economy
Despite retaining the No. 1 spot, transportation equipment and many of the other top five industries are showing signs of a slowing economy. Though not a definitive indicator, Site Selection‘s annual totals for the transportation equipment industry were down by 125 new and expanded facilities in 2000. The top-ranking industry reported only 732 facility announcements in 2000, compared to 1999’s 855 new and expanded facilities. Plastics and rubber also dropped by 84 facility announcements from 1999’s 534 to 2000’s 450.
In fact, the total number of new and expanded facility announcements reported to Conway Data Inc.’s New Plant Database in 2000 was down by nearly 1,300. In 1999, there were 13,580 facility announcements added to the database, while only 12,281 were reported in 2000.
United States Sweeps
Top Industry Investments
Much of the 12,000-plus announcements recorded in 2000, however, found the Land of the Free to be the land of choice. Of the 50 facility announcements listed in the accompanying mega-deals chart, the United States brought home 40 — 80 percent of investments making the list. The United States was particularly strong in the fabricated metals and machinery industries — taking all of the top 10 investments except for one.
For fabricated metals, the United States landed in the No. 1 spot with Vulcraft’s (a division of Nucor) US$50 million new steel fabricating facility in Chemung, N.Y. New York stands out as the big draw for this industry, winning three of the top 10 — followed by Tennessee’s two wins. Japan was the only other country to enter the industry category against the United States, landing in the No. 3 spot with Japan Fine Coating’s $33.9 million new coatings facility in Tsukuba, Japan.
In the machinery industry, the United States made a valiant effort, landing all of the top 10 mega-deals, except the coveted No. 1 spot. Merloni Elettrodomestici went to Russia with love, investing some $100 million. The U.S. Northeast was the strongest region in this industry sector, with New York winning two facilities, and Pennsylvania and Massachusetts bringing in one announcement each.
Mexico beat out the United States for the No. 1 spot in the U.S.-born transportation equipment industry with DaimlerChrysler’s $2 billion investment. The southern neighbor also took the No. 5 spot in this industry sector, but the United States finished out the rest of the category. In the United States, the southern auto market continues to develop a stronger presence with four of the top 10 going into the region.
The United States landed all but two of the pharmaceutical announcements ranking in 2000. California leads the way for the newcomer to the top industries list, landing three of the top 10 deals. Included among the California announcements is the No. 1-ranked IDEC’s new facility in Oceanside, Calif.
The biggest fight for new and expanded facilities came in the rubber and plastics industry. Asia won many of the top investments, including Bayer/Shanghai Chlorakali’s $450 million investment in Caojing, China. Japan and Indonesia each won a new facility in this industry. In North America, Quebec won one new announcement from AET Canada, while the United States landed the remaining six facilities.
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